Day 15 - Wednesday, March 15
The Sacrifice of Humility
Scripture: Romans 12:16; Ephesians 4:2; Philippians 2:3; Romans 12:3
Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves. Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.

Poetry:
"The Servant King" 
by Graham Kendrick
From heaven you came, helpless babe,
Entered our world, your glory veiled;
Not to be served but to serve,
And give your life that we might live.

This is our God, the Servant King,
He calls us now to follow him,
To bring our lives as a daily offering
Of worship to the Servant King.

There in the garden of tears,
My heavy load he chose to bear;
His heart with sorrow was torn,
‘Yet not my will but yours,’ he said.

Come see his hands and his feet,
The scars that speak of sacrifice,
Hands that flung stars into space
To cruel nails surrendered.

So let us learn how to serve,
And in our lives enthrone him;
Each other’s needs to prefer,
For it is Christ we’re serving.

CALLED TO SERVE
For many, humility flies directly in the face of what our culture promotes.  How can you expect to get ahead without putting yourself first?  By thinking more of others than yourself, how will you not get trampled in this dog-eat-dog world of ours? Yet, like it’s teaching of so many other Christian qualities, our Lord turns the tables upside down.

Part of the problem is that we may not understand humility very well.  C. S. Lewis once observed that “Thousands of humans have been brought to think that humility means pretty people trying to believe they are ugly and clever men trying to believe they are fools.” The caricature of a weak-willed, self-deprecating, stoop-shouldered soul is far from the humility of Christ exemplified in scripture.

In these scripture passages we see that humility is a non-defensive willingness to see ourselves as we really are − as fallen creatures with limitations to be owned.  When we see ourselves accurately in relation to the standards of a holy God, we better understand what it means to associate with the lowly.  Only then do we recognize that the playing field has been leveled and that all of the material awards and recognition from others, so highly valued by our culture, and which at one time seemed so important as a tangible indicator that set us apart from others, is in reality a misguided understanding of what really matters. Rather, we are called to imitate Christ’s humility; that is, we are to selflessly use whatever God has given us to benefit others.  Thus, we are called to associate with the lowly and to demonstrate gentleness and patience in bearing with one another in love, for we are all equally loved by God.

In the well-known Philippians chapter 2 passage, Christ himself provided the greatest demonstration of humility by leaving heaven and willingly experiencing the limitations and frailties of a sin-marred human existence. This was a disregard of the differences of position or rank far greater than any association with the lowly that you or I can ever experience. And then to extend this demonstration of humility through obedience to death – even death on a cross (Phil 2:8) so that we might live!  This is the attitude of serving others that we are called to imitate.

So, we too are called not to be served, but to serve as we are reminded so beautifully in the poem The Servant King.

So let us learn to serve,
And in our lives enthrone him;
Each other’s needs to prefer,
For it is Christ we’re serving.

PRAYER
Dear Lord, Help us to overcome our natural inclinations to enhance our sense of self, sometimes at the expense of others, not be willing to acknowledge those gifts from your gracious bounty that will be of use in serving others, wallow in the accolades of others as a measure of our self-worth, and to not love others as we love ourselves. Help us to fully grasp your humility and please give us the power to imitate that humility.
Amen.

Peter Hill 
Professor of Psychology, Rosemead School of Psychology